I'm the mother of Ralph, born April 29, 2007 with meconium aspriation syndrome and an atrial septal defect. He developed pulmonary hypertension as a result. He also has Down Syndrome. Ralph has 7 brothers and 2 sisters. These are our stories...

Thursday, January 26, 2012

By now you surely know that with me, tomorrow means sometime this week or next, right?

Poor Zhen. From the moment we busted him out of his orphanage he has had nose issues. Among other things. First thing in the morning, virtually every morning, he would sneeze or cough and a HUGE, green, mega-booger would fly out of his left nostril. Easily the size of my pinky finger, this snot snake would often be licked clean before I could even grab a tissue! ICK!

Concerned about sinus infections, Zhen went through several series of antibiotics. The green snot always returned. Eventually.

Early in December, 2011, the odor arrived. Oh my goodness, the odor. I would wash his hair, brush his hair, but someone was going on inside. I suspected the nose, as it was running green and heavy again.

I couldn't wait to have his tonsils and adenoids removed! I thought that there might be rotting food hiding in tonsil pockets. I even told the doctor that I wouldn't be surprised if he found something stuck up his nose, considering the monster boogies that only came out of one side.

Well, guess what?

During Zhen's surgery, the doctor found a piece of upholstery-type foam stuck up in his nose. When I say stuck, I mean adhered to the tissues of his nasal passages. He tried to flush it out, but that didn't work. He had to go after it with instruments. Eek!

Poor sweetie. I suspect that that foam had been there for a LONG time. Zhen was a hurt puppy the whole afternoon and evening after the surgery. The nurses and I had to force liquids on him with a syringe. Same with his pain meds. He just laid in his crib moaning all night long.

Thank goodness he turned the corner overnight and was happily sucking down chocolate milk the next morning. He even willingly took his Lortab medicine, which tastes AWFUL. He's been in great shape ever since.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The boys are doing great! After all three had their tonsils and adenoids removed on the same day last week, the first night was dicey, but after that it was a piece of cake.

We had two rooms with "name alert" stickers on the sign. Don't want to mix those boys up!Thank goodness Chip came to help me! He took care of Theo the entire time since I was busy next door with Ralph and Zhen. Theo would NOT keep his gown on. We switched to jammies after this because you know the place was chilly! Doesn't Theo look big?Ralph was ready to play after sleeping for a few hours. He charmed all the nurses.Zhen was the BIGGEST whiner after the surgery. He just whined with every breath for the entire first night. He may have been hurting a bit more than the other two...tell you why tomorrow.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Between the orthotics fittings, eye doc, family doc, birthday, therapies, event planning, and 2 IEP meetings, I was totally exhausted.

Tuesday was Zhen's birthday. He's five years old now! Wow! He gets to eat his cereal in this red bowl every morning. Dad was out of town, so we baked a cake and had it without frosting for a little party after dinner. The kids were so surprised that cake tasted good without frosting! Ha!Wednesday had to be the highlight of my week...Theo's IEP meeting. If you have never had the pleasure of looking forward to an IEP meeting I'm sorry. This is just one of the ways I am blessed by Theo. Watching him blow expectations and goals out of the water is so exciting! Working with a team of professionals that have fallen in love with him is rewarding. This deserves a whole blog post of it's own.

Friday I finally got Ralph to the eye doctor. The kid wants glasses. He needs them for reading but I wasn't certain that he would be compliant. Since he keeps stealing Zhen's glasses, I think he's ready.

Later that afternoon was Zhen'sIEP meeting. Even though his skills are scattered from 18 months to 4 years, the magnitude of his growth over the past year is impressive. He was basically untestable this time last year. He's transitioning into an FAA (functionally applied academics) room for next year.

I wonder how much Zhen will grow over the next year. I wonder if he is full inclusion material. The school psych says no, never. I like her, but I would love to see her proven wrong.

My mother came to visit yesterday, and dad is home again, so we had another birthday party last night. Mom and I both bought the same gift for Zhen! Actually, they were slightly different versions of the same noisy siren trucks. That turned out great for Ralph!

Tomorrow is the BIG day. Ralph, Theo and Zhen are having tonsils and adenoids removed in the morning. We are getting this over with in a big way. I'm either crazy or a genius. I guess I will find out which one tomorrow!

Since trying to get the three boys to sleep in a hotel room sounds like more of a pain than getting up at 2am to drive to Kansas City, I'll be an EARLY riser tomorrow morning. Chipper is going with me to help out. He's great with the boys. If you think of us tomorrow, say some prayers for the doctor and the boys to recover quickly.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Let's just say that blogging is taking a back seat around here lately. I have lots to share...funny stories, kid craziness, my off-the-wall plans and schemes. I've just been trying to BE with my family as much as a write about them. I was a mom long before I ever owned a computer.

With that said, here are some photos from our Christmas. Hope you enjoy!

I was dreaming of a muddy Christmas. How do you like this Christmas scene?Richy was home, so plenty of Guitar Hero battles took place.

Grandma Linda came to see us. Ruby was in beauty shop heaven!The girls dressed up for Christmas Eve but I couldn't get a nice smile out of Rose, until......she covered up Ruby's face.These boys provided quality control for Santa cookies. The cookies were approved, I'm happy to say.Some sort of record was set as mom and dad were in bed before 1am. Even after a battery run. I guess we will never learn.Here is the whole crew, minus Wesley who came for New Year's. They are all waiting for the action to start after we got all the little ones to the potty.No trouble getting smiles on Christmas morning!The BEST gift, hands down, that was received this year. Zhen has an obsession with vacuum cleaners and this little beauty was just the ticket for him.Theo enjoying the good vibrations.Ralph liked it too!My little drummer boy! This conga drum sounded awesome.Jordan and his new puppy, Rufus.Thomas never disappoints with his duct tape creations. He made Chipper his first Superbowl trophy. Oh man did we laugh!!Leroy got a duct tape sword that say "I AM THAT IS." He loved it! Brownie points if you can guess where this saying comes from!My little dolly with her new cabbage patch dolly.Theo working hard on unwrapping.I think it's love.Yep. Delicious!Rose and her unicorn, Cornelia.I got a nifty new, heavy duty colander. You know what those are good for, right?What do you think of this ribeye? A great friend gave us this tasty hunk of meat. We cut it up and put it on the grill. Mmmmmm.

January is shaping up to be a stress filled month for me. Four surgeries, two IEP's, scads of doc appointments, birthdays, anniversaries and event preparations. If you think of me this month, will you shoot a quick prayer up for me? Thanks!